Buying step by step
| Budget | Deposit, borrowing capacity, and the cash needed for tax and fees, which is separate from the deposit. |
|---|---|
| Search | Narrowing by the things that cannot be changed first: location, plot, floor area, aspect. |
| Offer | In most systems an accepted offer is not yet binding on either side. |
| Survey | A condition inspection commissioned by the buyer, distinct from the lender's valuation. |
| Legal checks | Title, searches and enquiries, carried out by whoever is doing the conveyancing. |
| Binding point | The moment the deal can no longer be walked away from without penalty. Its name and timing vary by jurisdiction. |
| Completion | Money moves, keys change hands, and the change of ownership is registered. |
The purchase of a home looks chaotic from inside it, but structurally it is a short sequence of checks, each one answering a specific question before the next begins. Naming the questions makes the process far less opaque.
Before looking
Two numbers do most of the work. The first is the deposit: cash that is not borrowed. The second is borrowing capacity, which a lender sets against income, existing commitments and the stress tests it applies. Their sum is the purchase ceiling, and it is not the budget, because taxes and fees are paid on top and cannot usually be borrowed.
It is worth writing down the moving costs separately: transaction tax where it applies, legal fees, search fees, survey fees, lender fees, removals, and the immediate work a new home always turns out to need. Treating these as an afterthought is the most common way a purchase becomes uncomfortable.
Searching
The efficient order is to filter first on what cannot be changed and last on what can. Location, plot, orientation and usable floor area are fixed or expensive to alter. Kitchens, bathrooms, decoration and layout within the existing envelope are not. Buyers who search the other way round tend to pay a premium for finish and then discover the fixed constraints afterwards.
Offer and acceptance
An offer is a proposal on price and often on other terms: timing, what is included, whether it is conditional on a sale of the buyer's own home. In most systems acceptance starts the process rather than concluding it, and either party can still withdraw. Where the local system binds earlier, the checks below simply happen before the offer instead of after it.
Survey and valuation
These are two different things and are constantly confused. A lender's valuation asks whether the property is adequate security for the loan. A survey, commissioned by the buyer, asks what condition the building is in. Only the second is for the buyer's benefit, and only the second describes defects. This distinction is set out at length on the surveys page.
Legal checks
The legal stage establishes that the seller owns what they are selling, that the boundaries and rights of access are what they appear to be, that nothing planned nearby will materially change the property, and that no charge or restriction is attached to it. The categories of search vary by jurisdiction; the purpose does not.
The binding point and completion
- The mortgage offer is issued in writing, on stated conditions.
- The parties reach the binding point, which in some systems is an exchange of contracts and in others the signing of a single deed before a notary.
- A completion date is fixed, funds are transferred, and possession passes.
- The change of ownership and any lender's charge are registered.
A chain, where several transactions must complete on the same day because each buyer is also a seller, is the usual reason a straightforward purchase becomes slow. Chains fail at their weakest link, and no individual party can fix a link they are not part of.